Sports and leisure campaigns for migrant workers in Qatar: including the excluded

ABSTRACT

Purpose

The authors assess the effectiveness of campaigns designed to increase the sport activities of migrant workers in Qatar, host nation of the FIFA Men’s World Cup Qatar 2022^TM.

Design

The authors used the integrative model of behavioral prediction (IM) as a guide and conducted ethnographic interviews with migrant workers in Qatar.

Findings

The results suggest that the respondents have very low participation rates, positive attitudes towards the sports campaigns and desire to participate more but are hampered by environmental factors beyond their control including time off of work, transportation and money.

Contribution

Utilization of external factors is necessary for the management and assessment of sports campaigns targeted at migrant workers and by extension, other populations.

Implications

The inclusion of external elements from the IM is especially important in the design of sports campaigns targeted at migrant workers. Focusing exclusively on internal perceptions, attitudes and beliefs risks missing the factors that prevent the campaigns from succeeding.

Originality

Sports opportunities are not often targeted at migrant laborers nor assessed; the study fills this gap. The external factors from the IM are underutilized. The study addresses this gap and provides valuable insight that can guide the management and assessment of sports and leisure opportunities for migrant workers.

KEYWORDS:

• Migrant workers
• sports campaigns
• sports activities
• integrative model of behavioral prediction
• FIFA World Cup
• Qatar
• ethnographic interviews

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Dr. Jairo Lugo-Ocando for his invaluable advice during the writing process and to Peter Taylor his editing assistance. We would like to thank Ray Corcoran, Rommel Solicar and our facilities team for their central role in organizing the data collection sessions. We also thank Sana Hussain and Hatim Rachdi, research assistants, and the 96 migrant workers who gave their time and trust to this research. The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This paper was made possible by a UREP award [UREP 20-121-05-027] from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of The Qatar Foundation) The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors.